Work on Work, Work on You
Mediocre people hate high performers—Equally high performers hate mediocre people. Which one are you, and why?
The question seems simple—are you mediocre, or are you a high performer?
The problem is that most mediocre people think they are high performers, or they aren’t held to standards that lead to the awareness of mediocrity. This affects every business no matter the size. Is it your aunt that is handling your accounting duties and has you still behind on your business taxes from two years ago, or the team member hiding in the background doing just enough to go unnoticed on the production line?
Both may exist, likely at least one does, and they are killing your business.
It’s time to face the music and work on work while working on you.
Gene Chizik—current Defensive Coordinator for the University of North Carolina—led Auburn University to a second extremely improbable NCAA College Football National Championship in 2010.
Many point to Cam Newton as the cause of the title and there is no doubting his impact and Heisman winning season helped lead the charge, but without a coach and essentially CEO to the team, Auburn would have never made it through to the title win.
I was a writer at the time covering Auburn and I remember a theme that Chizik preached to his teams constantly—Work on Work. It was a phrase they used often to close out huddles ending practice. That has always stuck with me. You must be willing to constantly evolve, constantly get better and always look for growth in your professional life. In the end, always be willing to find opportunities to work on work.
There are times when you don’t want to develop professionally. For that matter the same can be said personally. That is what separates you from finding your best high performing self, and mediocrity.
To point to a rival of Chizik in his Auburn days, Nick Saban—Head Coach of the University of Alabama—has won numerous titles as head coach at Alabama. He is arguably the best college football coach in history. I once heard a speech he gave on how he built his teams.
In that speech he said, “mediocre performers hate high achievers, and high achievers hate mediocre performers.” Saban went on to say that the two “could not and would not” co-exist. He then went into the process that he uses to find those high achievers. This too stuck with me.
Shortly after I saw this speech, I was early in my executive leadership position and one of the most successful people I know personally, and have honestly ever met for that matter, told me “A leaders hire A players. Are you an A type leader or not?” This was during a severe ass chewing—that I rightly deserved I might add—where I had made the wrong decision on personnel.
Trust me, that hit harder than Chizik’s mantra and Saban’s words with me. Was I going to be middle of the pack, or did I have the guts to find the right people and push them to their limits and beyond finding the extra in the ordinary along the way.
I have been mediocre. I have done just enough to get by, been the guy chilling in the corner counting for the last minute to roll on so that extra customers couldn’t walk in the door. How shameful. What a waste that was.
Knowing that we are all going to have the ebb and flow of life where at times, you are mediocre, find the best in you, begin again to work on work, and work on yourself. Climb your way out of mediocrity.
It isn’t always easy and very rarely is. Times will come when those around you embrace the easy, after all it feels good to feel good. Despite that, equally it pays more to embrace the suck and face the pain of growth head on.
It’s up to you to choose—are you mediocre or will you seek excellence and demand yourself and those around you to be and stay high performers?
Good luck on the climb—it’s worth it.
